Google Traces EU Antitrust Complaint to Microsoft

Google Feb. 23 said three Web companies have filed complaints with the European Commission alleging that the search engine is demoting their Websites in Google search results and not respecting fair competition. Complainants include UK price comparison site, Foundem, a French legal search engine called ejustice.fr, and Microsoft's Ciao from Bing, a product shopping site. Google is no stranger to discord in Europe. Switzerland is suing the search engine over its Street View feature in Google Maps. In 2008, Google halved its data retention duration to nine months after the EU complained.

Google Feb. 23 said three Web companies have filed
complaints with the European Commission alleging that the search engine is
demoting their Websites in Google search results and not respecting fair
competition.
The European Commission, the antitrust body for the
European Union, received complaints from UK price comparison site,
Foundem, a French legal search engine called ejustice.fr, and Microsoft's Ciao from
Bing, a product shopping site.

While the Commission said it has not opened a formal
review of Google over these complaints, Google denied the allegations and
pointed to search rival Microsoft as the possible instigator in at least two of
the claims.

Google said Ejustice.fr and Foundem, a member of an
organization called ICOMP funded partly by Microsoft to lobby against Google in
Europe, alleged that Google's search algorithms demote its site in Google
search results because they are a vertical search engine and so a direct
competitor to Google.
Microsoft acquired Ciao, a long-time AdSense partner of Google's,
in 2008 and renamed it Ciao from Bing. Shortly after the buy, Google said it began
receiving complaints about its standard terms and conditions.
Google's implication is that Microsoft is behind the complaints.
Julia Holtz, Google's senior competition counsel, acknowledged
the importance of rankings to Websites, but said search is not perfect and is a "very hard computer science problem to
crack."
Holtz explained that Google's algorithms aim to rank what people are
most likely to find useful and that many vertical search engines, such as Moneysupermarket.com, Opodo and
Expedia, often rank high in Google's results.
"Though each case raises slightly different issues,
the question they ultimately pose is whether Google is doing anything to choke
off competition or hurt our users and partners," Holtz continued. "This
is not the case. We always try to listen carefully if someone has a real
concern and we work hard to put our users' interests first and to compete fair
and square in the market. We believe our business practices reflect those
commitments."
Google will provide feedback and additional information
on these complaints going forward.
Collins Stewart analysts pointed to the complaints as
part of its downgrade of Google to "hold" Jan. 22.
The research firm
noted: "Increasing regulatory scrutiny was one of the minor reasons for
our downgrade of Google in January. Due to Google's dominating position in
search, the regulatory scrutiny will likely surface more often."
Google is no stranger to discord in Europe. Switzerland
is
suing the search engine over its Street View feature in Google Maps. In 2008, Google halved its data retention duration to 9 months after the EU complained.
Earlier today, two managers and a former
executive of Google were
found guilty of privacy violations by an Italian court, related to a clip of
students bullying a disable classmate that was uploaded to Google Video in
2006.